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SANTA BARBARA ALUM DEAD AT 56

By SOD  Posted: Mar 31, 2014

A Martinez (ex-Cruz, SANTA BARBARA) announced the passing of his former co-star Dane Witherspoon, who played Joe on SB in 1984, at the age of 56. The actor, who was briefly married to leading lady Robin Wright (ex-Kelly), also played Tyler on CAPITOL. “Dane passed this morning," Martinez wrote on Facebook on March 29. "People who watched Santa Barbara in its earliest days will remember him as Joe Perkins, a character to which he brought a quiet grace and deep, bittersweet sense of soul. He was a singular, standup guy, loved and admired by many. My first thought, upon meeting him in 1984: 'This is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.' That beauty went all the way to his core. 'How fragile we are,' to quote the poet. Dane was a most compelling man, and it must have been very hard on him to drift away from the path he first imagined. We’d do well to hold his kin in our thoughts, and imagine them finding a way to make the most of the lessons of his life.”